MACOMB, IL — The Western Illinois University Singers have been named the Third Place National Winners of The American Prize in Choral Performance (College/University Division), a year-long national performing arts competition. Choirs of all types and levels, elementary to professional, from around the United States, submitted recordings in late April 2019. From those recordings, a national panel of judges selected semi-finalists, finalists and finally, winners in each category. Assistant Professor Brian J. Winnie, director of choral activities, was named the Second Place National Winner of... Read More

Lynne Stukart of LeClaire can’t sing the praises of a staggeringly huge virtual choir loudly enough. But that makes sense, since for Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir 6 – with 17,562 singers from 129 nations – they literally were told to “Sing Gently.” At a time when we could all use some peace, togetherness and harmony, Stukart, a veteran flute teacher, was thrilled to be part of the online musical project. She’s a big fan of Whitacre, the popular choral composer and his ambitious virtual choirs – a project that started in 2010 with individual videos from 185 singers from 12 countries,... Read More